SCHUMER WILL BRING HUDSON VALLEY’S KATE FARLEY – A MOM EXPECTING HER 2ND CHILD THANKS TO IVF – AS HIS PERSONAL GUEST TO PRESIDENT BIDEN’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS; SENATOR VOWS TO PROTECT CRUCIAL ACCESS TO IVF & FIGHT HARD-RIGHT AGENDA RESTRICTING WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE

Following Radical Alabama Supreme Court Ruling Threatening IVF Care Which Led To Fertility Clinics Shutting Down Services, Schumer Is Pushing To Safeguard & Strengthen IVF Access Across The Country, And Says Stories Like Kate’s Are The Reason We Need To Protect Reproductive Freedom Across The Country

Schumer: IVF Is Essential For People Like Kate To Have Children & We Cannot Let Far Right Extremism Dictate Basic Women’s Healthcare and Reproductive Rights

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today announced that he will bring Hudson Valley resident Kate Farley, who is 37 weeks pregnant with her second child thanks to in vitro fertilization, as his guest to attend President Biden’s State of the Union address. Due to a genetic abnormality, IVF was the only option for Kate to get pregnant and avoid experiencing multiple miscarriages, but with fertility treatment, she and her husband are getting ready to welcome their second child.

Now, following the recent radical right-wing Alabama Supreme Court decision which threatens IVF access and is causing fertility clinics to shut down, Schumer will stand with Kate and vow to protect every American’s right to IVF, fight back against Republicans’ attacks against reproductive health, expand access to contraception, and continue the fight for a woman’s right to choose.

“I am honored to bring Hudson Valley’s Kate Farley, a soon-to be second time mom thanks to the wonderful reality of in vitro fertilization, as my guest to President Biden’s State of the Union address. Like so many people across the country, Kate was unable to get pregnant due to a medical condition and IVF treatment allowed her to start a beautiful family that is now about to grow. But the radical right wing Republican attacks on women’s reproductive health care freedom is now threatening access to IVF. We know the importance of comprehensive reproductive healthcare for families across the country and yet, Republicans are trying to enact restrictions across the country on everything from abortion to contraception to IVF in a terrifying attempt to take away freedom of choice, but we will never let that stand. That is why I am privileged to bring Kate as my guest to help highlight the story of this Hudson Valley family for our entire nation, because it is a story like so many others across America, and it shows why these rights are absolutely essential ” said Senator Schumer.

“In world created by the MAGA Republican Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe, women and families are living in fear that the Republican’s anti-reproductive, anti-freedom agenda are taking these choices away. Like Kate, there are countless people today who have the joy of children solely because of IVF and comprehensive reproductive healthcare, and no American trying to get pregnant should have to live in fear that their access to becoming a parent through in vitro fertilization could be taken away, or worry their fundamental rights could disappear tomorrow. I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with Kate who exemplifies the importance of IVF and reproductive healthcare. I will always fight to ensure New Yorkers and Americans have reproductive healthcare and am going to do everything I can to protect women, families, and reproductive freedom for people like Kate,” said Schumer.

Schumer explained Kate had always wanted to be a mom, but in 2019 she was diagnosed with a chromosomal translocation, a genetic abnormality that causes repeated miscarriages and prevents about 80 percent of the embryos she produces from developing into a baby.  Kate's doctors told her that without medical assistance, she would continue to have miscarriages. Kate’s doctors recommended IVF and she had her first child, a son, in April 2021 and is now pregnant with a daughter due later this month.  Without IVF, Kate and her husband might never have had children, and would have endured years of emotionally and physically painful miscarriages in their attempts.

Schumer explained that Kate’s story exemplifies how vital it is that we ensure IVF treatment is accessible for families across the country, with the recent radical Alabama Supreme Court decision curtailing IVF treatment across the state. Schumer said the Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, and now, fertility clinics are shutting down due to concerns about the legal repercussions of offering a full suite of fertility services. The senator said these awful restrictions are a terrifying reality for families who want to have children and could have potentially horrific consequences if other states follow suit, with parents terrified that their only option to have a family could be taken away. Schumer explained that with reproductive freedoms already under attack across the country, families who are trying to get pregnant are terrified. Schumer said it’s shameful that in the twenty-first century in the United States, we are going backwards on reproductive freedoms because of Republicans’ hard-right agenda.

Schumer added that women across the country already have to travel hundreds of miles for basic health care, with doctors fearing criminal prosecution for just doing their jobs since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Since the hard-right’s Roe reversal, one in three Americans has lost abortion access and 21 states have enacted draconian, near-total abortion bans. The senator said with reproductive rights under attack across the country, he is proud to hold up stories of women like Kate and will fight to protect IVF treatment and women’s healthcare across the country. Schumer has been a champion of reproductive freedom for decades and is committed to doing everything he can as Senate majority leader to protect reproductive healthcare for women and families in New York and the United States.

Schumer has been a relentless advocate for reproductive freedoms and is vowing to support protecting the right to reproductive technology like IVF. Following the Alabama SCOTUS decision, Schumer stood with Senators Duckworth, Murray, Klobuchar and Baldwin to express his support for protecting the right to IVF. In 2023, following the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade, Schumer re-introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act, the federal legislation to guarantee access to abortion, everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans.

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